Problem-solving strategies of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND

Many women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer experience side effects that make it difficult to perform daily occupations.

PURPOSE: To summarize the types of challenges, goals, and adaptive strategies identified by women with stage 1-3 breast cancer participating in a pilot study of Problem-solving Treatment-Occupational Therapy (PST-OT).

METHODS

Content analysis of 80 PST-OT sessions.

FINDINGS: Women addressed 11 types of challenging activities, with exercise and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) being the most common. Most women set a goal to adapt a current activity, but also set goals to find a new activity, plan the steps of a current activity, or gather information about a possible activity change in the future. The adaptive strategies generated by the women were grouped into five types. Most often they found ways to add a new step to an activity, but they also brainstormed about when, how, where, and with whom they could do activities.

IMPLICATIONS: The women were usually trying to adapt familiar activities but also were looking for ways to include new, healthy occupations into their routines.